Pope Francis' embracement of homosexuality made headlines all over the world. He called upon the general public at an official interview to have mercy on homosexuals for the first time since his nomination. He stated, “If they accept the Lord and show goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn't be marginalized. Their tendency is not a problem; they are our brothers and sisters.” The Pope’s remarks are very controversial since they create distance with the traditional position of the Catholic doctrine. Originally, the Catholic Church ascertains homosexuality to be a sin; thus, Pope Francis is showing quite an innovative attitude. The person concerned analyzed, his progressive and reasonable posture had stemmed from his origin; he is the first Pope from South America and the Society of Jesus, which is a minority denomination1 of the Roman Catholic faith population. The press misreported the intention of the Pope’s utterance and reported that the Catholic Church has now openly agreed to accept homosexuality. Therefore, criticism and concerns from devotees has been aroused. Although there is no official change to the Catholic religious dogma, the Catholic Church is extending its hand out to homosexuals by disabling its traditionally ultra-conservatism stance.

RussiaHomosexual? No Excuses!

Russia is showing increased objection to homosexuality regardless of the increasing tendency by other nations to accept it. Recently, the lower governmental house of Russia regulated new propaganda that promotes the, banning of homosexual rights. The new regulations heavily restrict education and publicity concerned with homosexuality. Also, Russia has passed a Bill that prohibits the adoption of Russian kids by homosexual couples and is seeking agreement on a Bill that forbids homosexuals from blood donation. According to research, there are severe aversions toward homosexuals among the Russian citizens; most of Russians agreed to the newly proposed regulations, some of them even felt it necessary to criminally indict homosexuals. These uncompromising attitudes were influenced by the negative influence of the Russian Church and the old policies dating back to the Soviet Union period, which forbad homosexual exhaustively and punished homosexuals with imprisonment or forced labor. Recently, a homosexual was assaulted by anti-homosexual forces and died a horrible death. This heinous crime has sparked strong opposition and protest from not only human right activists in Russia but also from global citizens around the world.

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South KoreaThe First Homosexual Wedding

It has become less shameful to show one’s true identity in Korea compared to years ago. Hong Sukcheon, who is a famous entertainer, was the first celebrity to “coming-out” in Korea. He revealed his true self thirteen years ago. At that time, it was so shocking to everyone that he couldn’t appear on TV for three years. He suffered greatly, but time passed, he now uses the fact that he is a gay in his comic routine. In addition to his case, there was a quite special wedding on September 7th. It was the first open homosexual wedding for Kim Jo Gwangsu, a famous movie director, and Kim Seunghwan, a representative for the film company Rainbow Factory. They held their wedding at Cheonggye Stream in Seoul so that everyone could see their wedding. Kim Jo Gwangsu said, “Homosexual weddings have already become legal in 16 countries. There is a worldwide tendency to hold homosexual weddings. These types of weddings will also, one day, become commonplace in Korea.” After their wedding on September 10th, they registered the marriage at Seodaemun-gu office and are now waiting for confirmation of their marriage registration.

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USAStop Conversion Therapy

Lots of entertainers in the USA have revealed their sexual identity, yet the laws in the USA still view homosexuals negatively. Because people do not accept homosexuals, lots of States in the USA have implemented conversion therapy programmes. The therapy is for gays and lesbians to regain “normal” sexual identity. However, the side effects of conversion therapy are severe. The therapy makes homosexuals state unwantedly their sexuality, which leads to suicide because of criticism from others. As suicides have become more frequent, some states have started to reexamine conversion therapy. Human right groups have petitioned2 that conversion therapy for teenagers be banned. In California, a law now goes into effect officially banning conversion therapy for the first time ever in the USA. The state of New Jersey is also banning the therapy. Chris Christie, governor of the state of New Jersey, said, “It is not shameful for people to be born homosexual. Any therapy for teenagers should be examined for both benefits and side effects.” Some people, however, say that it is too early to ban conversion therapy as more and more states consider banning the practise.

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1 Denomination: [NOUN] A branch of the Christian Church.
e.g.) Christians of all denominations attended the conference.

2 Petition: [VERB] To make a formal request to people in authority.
e.g.) Citizens petitioned relevant authorities to expand the city’s bus service.